The present invention relates to a Bowden cable for transmitting tensile forces which is composed of an exterior flexible Bowden cable casing and of an interior pulling element guided in sections in the Bowden cable casing. At least one end of the Bowden cable casing is fastened to a receiving device of a stationary holding member in the longitudinal direction.
In an arrangement with Bowden cables for transmitting tensile forces used, for example, in connection with the interior door operating system of the Porsche Boxster, a metal sleeve provided with a radially projecting collar is pressed onto and fastened to an end of the Bowden cable casing or sleeve and the collar is fitted in sections into a corresponding slot of a receiving device arranged on a support part of the interior door operating system. Adjacent to the slot, two spaced snap tongues are molded to the support part, and the Bowden cable casing can be pressed into the snap tongues by displacing movement transversely to the longitudinal direction of the Bowden cable casing. Relatively high manual force expenditures are required for snapping-in the Bowden cable casing. Furthermore, this Bowden cable arrangement does not assure that the end of the Bowden cable will remain in the fastening position.
It is one object of the invention to further develop an end-side fastening of a Bowden cable casing on a stationary holding member such that simple and fast mounting and demounting of the Bowden cable casing on the receiving device are ensured with low force expenditures and without requiring an auxiliary tool, and so that the Bowden cable casing is securely held in the fastening position.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing an injection-molded-on end piece on the end of the Bowden cable casing to be fastened. The end piece can be pushed into a receiving device of the holding member which extends approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction of the Bowden cable casing. The end piece is fixed in the receiving device, in the axial direction, by at least one resilient supporting arm constructed on the end piece. Additional characteristics and advantageous developments of the invention are also reflected in the claims.
The principal advantages achieved by the invention are that an end piece, injection-molded onto the end of the Bowden cable casing to be fastened, can be connected with the receiving device in a simple manner by way of a plug-in connection aligned in the longitudinal direction of the Bowden cable casing, and that, in the completely pushed-in fastening position, an additional axial fixing with respect to detachment takes place by molded-on supporting arms. The supporting arms can be swivelled into a release position for demounting the connection. The injection-molded-on end piece and the corresponding receiving device can be produced in a simple manner and at a reasonable cost. As soon as the guide grooves at the end piece contact the holding webs of the receiving device, the Bowden cable casing, when the operating handle is swivelled, is automatically pulled into the fastening position (a secure end position).